Taftite Republicans

The Taftite Republicans was a conservative faction of the US Republican Party that existed during the mid-20th century. The faction was named for its leader, Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft, who allied with the Conservative Democrats to oppose Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" programs from the 1930s to the 1960s. The Taftite Republicans supported classical liberalism, advocating a protectionist laissez faire economy. The faction opposed the expansion of labor unions, the spread of federal power and bureaucracy, deficit spending, and welfare programs, and they supported non-interventionism in foreign policy. The Taftite Republicans were rivals with the liberal Rockefeller Republicans, and the Taftites would decline in power as the Rockefeller Republicans emerged as the dominant faction during the 1930s. It was not until 1964 that one of the conservative Republicans, Barry Goldwater, emerged as a major candidate, and the Taftite Republicans soon joined forces with the rest of the Conservative Republicans to make up a majority within their party.